There have been known double bearing fishing reels. Conventional double bearing fishing reels include left and right frames of a reel body and left and right side plates mounted on the left and right frames. Between the left and right side plates, a spool is supported so as to be rotatable. In most cases, the left and right side plates are made of a metal or a synthetic resin for weight reduction.
On one of the left and right frames, a handle shaft is provided so as to be rotatable.
The handle shaft is connected frictionally with a drive gear via a drag mechanism. The drive gear meshes with a pinion gear connected to the spool.
In such a fishing reel, when the handle mounted on the handle shaft is rotated, the spool is rotated via the drive gear and the pinion gear, and a fishing line is wound around the spool.
One example of double bearing fishing reel is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Registration Publication No. 2559947. In this fishing reel, a support unit is fixed on a side plate. The support unit includes a handle shaft support that supports a handle shaft, and a pinion gear shaft support that supports a spool shaft (a pinion gear shaft). The handle shaft support and the pinion gear shaft support are integrated together.
In this fishing reel, the handle shaft support and the pinion gear shaft support constitutes one support, and therefore, it is possible to restrain deformation between the handle shaft support and the pinion gear shaft support under a high load.
However, in Japanese Utility Model Registration Publication No. 2559947, the support unit is fixed on the side plate. Therefore, when the handle is operated to wind the fishing line under a high load, a force imparted to the support unit may be transmitted to the side plate and cause deformation of the side plate. If the side plate is deformed, a relative displacement may occur between the frame and the support unit, reducing the rotation performance of the handle shaft and the pinion gear shaft.
The accuracy of the position to support the handle shaft and the pinion gear shaft is associated with the part accuracy of the side plate and the accuracy of mounting the support unit onto the side plate. Therefore, the conventional configuration is unfavorable for managing the accuracy of the position to support the handle shaft and the pinion gear shaft.